Container construction



Nov. 6, 1962 J. s. OETTINGER 3,062,428

CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION Filed April 15, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

JQSEPH 5. oETT/NG'ER BY A TTOR/VEKS United States Patent ()filice 3,062,428 Patented Nov. 6, 1962 3,062,428 CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION Joseph S, Oettinger, 21 Richbell Road, Scarsdale, N.Y. Filed Apr. 15, 1960, Ser. No. 22,426 2 Claims. (Cl. 229-31) This invention relates to the art of containers, more particularly of the stackable type.

As conducive to an understanding of the invention, it is noted that where conventional containers, such as those formed from folded box blanks of corrugated material, with their end and side walls integrally connected at the corners, have their opposed wall surfaces in parallel relation respectively to form a parallelepiped, a plurality of such containers cannot be stacked in nested relation. Consequently, where the containers are to be re-used, they must be piled one on top of the other, occupying a great deal of storage space, and if the empty containers are to be transported from one location or factory to another for re-use, they would occupy excessive storage space if shipped in their assembled condition. Where the container are collapsed into folded form by cutting the tape connecting the conventional bottom flaps, such operation would take considerable time, and when the containers reach their destination would require that such containers be reformed by again taping the bottom flaps, adding greatly to the cost due to the time involved for such reassembly, and also because of the cost of the tape required to reassemble the containers.

Where the containers are originally formed with their end and side walls integrally connected and flared outwardly to facilitate stacking, since the containers could not be juxtaposed without waste of space between adjacent containers, storage and shipping space occupied by a plurality of such containers would be considerably greater than that required for containers in the form of a parallelepiped.

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide a container which may readily be formed from corrugated board, for example, and which when once formed may, after the contents thereof have been removed, readily be stacked in nested relationship, while still fully formed, to facilitate storage and shipping of such empty containers in a minimum of space, and also may readily be removed from such nested relationship and closed to form a parallelepiped to minimize storage and shipping space required for filled containers, without need for reclosing the bottom of the container.

According to the invention, these object are accomplished by the arrangement and combination of elements hereinafter described and more particularly recited in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown one or more of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a blank of sheet material from which the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is desirably formed,

FIG. 3 is a detailed perspective view of a corner of the container with the walls thereof in tapered condition to permit nesting of a plurality of empty containers,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a connector strip to hold the corners of the container together,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the containers in stacked relationship,

FIG. 6 is a perspective View of another embodiment of the container,

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cover to be used with the embodiment of FIG. 6, and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, as shown in FIG. 1 the container 11 may be of any suitable material such as corrugated board, and is preferably made from a blank of corrugated sheet material 12 as shown in FIG. 2.

The blank 12 has a rectangular wall 13 which forms the bottom of the container; rectangular portions 14 and 15 and 16 and 17 which form the side and end walls of the containers, and rectangular closure flaps 18, 19, 21, 22 extending from the side and end walls respectively and which form the top wall of the container when it is closed.

'Desirably, the junctions between the bottom wall 13 and the side and end walls 14, 15 and 16, 17 have fold lines 24, 25 respectively formed therein, and the junctions between the side and end walls 14, 15, 16, 17 and closure flaps 18, 19, 21 and 22 have fold lines 26, 27 formed therein.

In the preferred embodiment shown, the width of each of the closure flaps 18 and 19 is substantially equal to one-half the width of the bottom wall 13 for the purpose hereinafter to be described.

To form the container 11 from the blank 12, the side and end walls 14, 15 and 16, 17 thereof are bent upwardly into parallel relation respectively. The adjacent edges a, b of the side and end walls 14, 17; 15, 17; 14, 16 and 15, 16 are connected in such manner that although securely retained together, the side and end walls may pivot outwardly slightly about the fold lines 24- and 25 respectively, so that the resultant cavity thus formed will permit stacking of a plurality of containers 11 in nested relationship as shown in FIG. 5.

In the illustrative embodiment shown, the adjacent edges a, b of the container walls are joined by an elongated flexible connector strip 31, preferably of strong material such as fiberglass cloth or the like. The strip 31, which illustratively is shown substantially in the form of an isosceles triangle, has its side edges 32 secured as by gluing to the adjacent edges a, b of the container walls, with the base 33 of the connector strip 31 adjacent the upper edges of the side and end walls of the container.

Desirably, the vertex 34 of the strip 31 is truncated to provide suflicient material laterally of the center line of the strip to permit secure adhesion thereof to the edges a and b.

With the construction above described, it is apparent that the spacing between the edges a, b of the side walls when the latter are moved outwardly will be substantially in the form of an isosceles triangle, and that a plurality of empty containers may be stacked in nested relationship as shown in FIG. 5 to facilitate storage, handling and shipping of the containers in such assembled condition.

To close the container shown in FIG. 1, after it has been formed it is merely necessary to bend the flaps 18, 19, 21, 22 inwardly, so as to extend parallel to the bottom wall 13, with the free edges 37 of the flaps 18, 19 in abutment so that they may readily be secured as by length of gummed tape, for example, which desirably extends over the end walls 16, 17. Since the width of each of the flaps 18, 19 is substantially half the width of the bottom wall 13, when the flaps 18, 19 are secured with their edges in abutment, the container will be in the form of a parallelepiped, i.e., having all of the pairs of opposed surfaces in parallel relationship.

With the container thus closed, the connector strips 31 will extend outwardly as shown, or if desired may extend inwardly into the container. By reason of the flexibility of such connector strips 31, they will not be injured by reason of abutment thereagainst of the contents of the container, if they extend inwardly, or by the abutment thereagainst of adjacent containers, if they extend outwardly.

As the container i in the form of a parallelepiped, a plurality of closed containers may be stacked in side by side relationship, and one on top of the other, without loss of space.

If desired, the container may be formed as shown at 11' in FIG. 6, without the closure flaps 18, 19, 21 and 22. The container 11' is identical in all other respects to that shown in FIG. 1 and may be closed by a cover 41, which is identical to the container 11 except that the top wall 42 is slightly larger than the bottom wall 13' of container 11 and the side and end walls 14', 15 and 16, 17 are narrower in width than the corresponding walls of the container 11'.

Since the cover 41 also has connector strips 31' at each corner, it is apparent that both the container 11' and covers 41 may be separately stacked in nested relationship for storage and shipping.

Since the top wall 42 of the cover 41 is slightly larger than the floor 13' of container 11, the cover may readily be positioned over the container 11 when the latter is filled, and secured in place as by taping, so that the closed container 11' will form a parallelepiped.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the corners 51 of the container 52 are rigidly connected, and each of the end and side walls 53, 54, 55, 56 and the associated closure flap 57, 58, 59, 60 has a slit 61 which extends from the outer edge 62 of the associated flap to the fold line 63 at the bottom of the associated wall, preferably midway between the ends of each of said walls. The adjacent edges 0, d of each slit are joined by an elongated connector strip 31" which, as in the embodiments previously described, has its side edges secured as by gluing to the adjacent edges c, d.

With the construction above described, it is apparent that the spacing between the edges 0, d of the slits 61 in the end and side walls 53, 54, 55, 56, when the latter are moved outwardly, will be substantially in the form of an isosceles triangle, and that a plurality of empty containers may be stacked in nested relationship.

The container shown in FIG. 8 may be closed by merely bending the flaps 57, 58, 59, 60 inwardly so as to extend parallel to the bottom wall 64, with the free edges 62 of flaps 59, in abutment so that they may readily be secured as by a length of gummed tape, for example, which desirably extends over the end walls 53, 54.

With the constructions above described, it is apparent that the containers may readily be formed from conventional material, and after being shipped to one location, and emptied, may readily be stacked, without need for collapsing the containers into fiat form, and in such stacked relationship may readily be shipped to another location and repacked with only the need to close the open mouth of the container in conventional manner.

As many change could be made in the above articles, and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A stackable container having a rectangular floor and rectangular side walls and end walls, each connected at one edge to said floor, said container walls having vertical slits associated therewith extending upwardly from the lower edge thereof, and a flexible member connecting the adjacent edges of said slits to permit pivotal movement away from each other of the side and end walls, whereby when the adjacent edges of the slits are substantially in engagement, the container will be in the form of a parallelepiped.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the slits are substantially centrally located in each of the side and end walls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 713,624 Ferres Nov. 18, 1902 780,445 Ramsay Jan. 17, 1905 1,666,294 Downes-Martin Apr. 17, 1928 2,598,320 Turbyfill May 27, 1952 2,771,232 Reed Nov. 20, 1956 2,793,802 Scaturro May 28, 1957 

